Some of my most important lessons in growing my law practice to more than a million dollars a year came from other types of service business owners, like doctors and dentists, auto repair shop owners and even carpet cleaners. I applied the smart things they did to my practice, and it was a hit.

So think about this… A $310 men’s haircut is 30 times the price of a regular SuperCuts haircut and 10 times the price of a regular barber shop or salon…

What if you could create an experience that commanded fees 10-30x higher than your local competitors? How about even just double?

So, let’s look at how you can do it:

1. A Name That Doesn’t Suck

The hair stylist who charges $310 for a haircut doesn’t call his salon a “barber shop” or even a salon. He calls it a Hair Studio.

Why does he do that and how does it relate to my teaching on why you must stop giving free initial consultations?

Watch the webinar from our last training (register for access here) to find out. [Then leave a note in the comments (below) and you could win a copy of the Client Engagement System for yourself.]

2. Be an Advisor, Not a Monkey With a Mousepad

In the video, Derek talks about how the hair stylist had a vision for his hair and wasn’t afraid to share that vision. Are you making strategic recommendations to your clients or just taking orders for what they tell you they need?

You need to become a trusted advisor to your clients… someone they turn to for recommendations, not just an order-taker who does what your clients say… or a salesperson looking to close the sale. When you become the trusted advisor your life changes, and so does theirs.

That’s when you begin to really love your law practice.

3. Make Your Customers Feel Different

Everything about the experience Derek had felt luxurious and different. You have to watch the video to hear how. It’s really funny, actually. And it confirms exactly what I just taught in the last training I offered on how to engage more clients.

So, how can you upgrade your service and make your customers feel different today?

4. Be Great

It really does help if you are awesome. And that takes study and practice. It’s why we created the Estate Planning Bootcamp, for one. We found that a lot of lawyers, even those in practice for years, weren’t being great at the practice of estate planning. They were being just mediocre… just okay. And that doesn’t (and never will!) give you the confidence to command higher fees, nor instill in your clients the desire to pay them.

[Which reminds me — Tomorrow, we are hosting a very inexpensive training where I’m going to teach you everything I know about how to be an expert for parents who have minor children at home. I’m going to make you *great* at planning for the needs of families with young children in a way that no other lawyer (who hasn’t been trained by me) can match.]

Derek did miss one major point though… About what really set this $310 haircut experience apart and set the stylist up for repeat customers and a truly profitable business.

You see, the HARDEST and MOST EXPENSIVE part of any business is acquiring the customer and making the first sale. Most service providers stop there. And it’s a shame because the profit is really made on how you get your customer to come back for future sales.

The stylist in Derek’s story did something very smart…

Did you catch it? And do you know how you can apply it to your practice?

Next week, I’ll break it all down for you in detail and give you some ideas of how you can bust through your own profit ceiling in your practice by getting your clients coming back for more. {Here’s one quick way — if you serve parents, join us tomorrow to learn how to name legal guardians for the parents you serve (even if what you do for them is not estate planning) and bring in additional revenue serving clients you already have.}

Until then… if you leave a comment below on the blog or hit REPLY to the newsletter/email you received (if you are not on our email list yet, sign up at the top of this page!) and share what you think it was that Derek missed…

About the Contributor

Alexis Neely is a Law Business Mentor and creator of the New Law Business Model. She built her law practice from scratch into a million dollar a year generating business in just three years with the new law business model her family and her clients loved.

225669014304088_385067605382664Juliet Monique OberdingThe stylist told Derek that part of the service was a free return trim up in two weeks. My assumption is that at the free service the client would be scheduled for his next appointment. But it also gives the stylist the ability to check in with the client, see what is working and what is not, and deliver more value.

2014-03-12T19:09:56+00001

225669014304088_385907100006930605891Mike MastryHi Alexis. You asked two questions above; 1) Why does the hairstylist call his salon a "Hair Studio" and how does that relate to what you taught in your webinar about not providing free initial consultations to clients; and 2) What did Derek miss that will keep the hair stylist's clients coming back for more?
The answer to your first question is that they hairstylist calls his salon a "Hair Studio" to set himself apart from the crowd and to convey the message that he is different from the rest. This relates to what you taught in the your webinar about not providing free consultations as follows: if the hairstylist simply called his business a barber shop or a hair salon, then he would be expected to charge the same rates as others with barber shops and hair salons. But since he has a "Hair Studio" he is different and therefore his rates are different. Likewise, if an estate planning attorney merely offers an initial consultation to new clients, then he/she would be expected to offer it for free as many other attorney's do. On the other hand, if an estate planning attorney offers a "Family Wealth Planning Session", as you do, then the client's expectations are changed and they recognize that a higher fee is justified and should be expected.
The answer to your second question is that Derek missed the subsequent sales opportunity that the hairstylist is creating for himself by offering a free "clean-up" with each haircut. When the customer takes advantage of the free offer the hairstylist is provided with the opportunity to become a trusted advisor of the customer, to provide more than other hairstylists are providing (also providing further justification for the additional cost), and to sell additional hair products and services to the customer.